xviii
CHINESE FESTIVALS AND OBSERVANCES IN 1928
1928 Ting-mao
Jan. XII. Moon
Wu-sin
*
Worship of the god of the hearth at nightfall.
The god of the hearth reports to heaven. Great Cold,
Chinese New Year's Day.
Beginning of Spring.
6
14
>
Slight Cold,
15
23
16
24
21
29
23
I. Moon 1.
Feb. 5
14
6
15
20
22 23
3
Mar. 4
13
19
10 21
29
Feast of Lanterns, Fête of Shang-yuen, ruler of heaven. Coming of Rain.
II. Moon 2 Mencius born, B.C. 371. Fête of the gods of land.
30
II. Moon
Apr, 5 Inter c. 15
Fête of the god of literature, worshipped by students.
Fête day of Hung-shing, god of the Canton river, powerful to preservë
people from drowning, and for sending rain in times of drought. Fête of Kwanyin, goddess of mercy.
Vernal Equinox,
Tsing-ming or Tomb Festival; on this day people worship at their
ancestors' graves.
Corn Rain.
Fête of Hiuen T'ien Shang-ti, the supreme ruler of the sombre heavens
and of Peh-te, Tauist god of the North Pole.
Beginning of Summer.
Fête of Tien Heu, Queen of Heaven, Holy mother, goddess of sailors.
IV. Moon 3 Small Fullness.
20 22
III. Moon 1
3
May 6
17
12
23
21
June 4
6
22
30
13
July 2
15
7
20
23
Aug. 4
8
9
15
17 19
Fête of Kin Hwa, the Cantonese goddess of parturition. Sprouting Seeds.
V. Moon Summer Solstice. National fête day. Dragon boat festival and boat races:
National fête of the son of Kwân Ti, god of war.
Anniversary of the Formation of Heaven and Earth. Slight Heat.
VI. Moon 7 Great Heat.
19
23
24
Fête of the Goddess of Mercy. Beginning of Autumn.
Fete of Kwan Ti, god of war.
VII. Moon 1 First day of the seventh moon. During this moon is held the festival of all
souls, when Buddhist and Tauist priests read masses to release souls. from purgatory, scatter rice to feed starving ghosts, recite magic incantations accompanied by finger play imitating mystic Sanskrit characters which are supposed to comfort souls in purgatory, burn paper clothes for the benefit of the souls of the drowned, and. visit family shrines to pray on behalf of the deceased members of the family. Exhibitions of groups of statuettes, dwarf plants, silk festoons, and ancestral tablets are combined with these ceremonies. which are enlivened by music and fireworks.
Fête of the seven goddesses of the Pleiades, worshipped by women. Heat Abating.
21 23
7
9
29
15
Fête of Chung Yuen, god of the element earth.
Sept. 5
22
Fête of the god of wealth.
8
25
White Dew.
12
29
Fête of Ti Ts'ang-wang, the patron of departed spirits.
VIII. Moon
23
10
Autumnal Equinox.
28
15
Oct. 8
25
10
27
21
24
12
Nov. 8
27
9
25
22
26
Dec. 7 22
15
26
National fête day. Worship of the moon, and Feast of Lanterns.
Cold Dew. Fête of the god of the Sun.
Fête of Confucius (born 552 B.C.), the founder of Chinese ethics and politics.
IX. Moon 9 Chung Yang Festival, kite-flying day; people on this day worship at their
ancestors' graves and ascend mountains for pleasure,
Frost Descent.
Beginning of Winter.
Fête day of Hwa Kwang, the god of fire.
X. Moon 11 Slight Snow.
Fête day of Ha Yuen, the god of water. Heavy Snow.
XI. Moon 11 Winter Solstice.
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